2015 A year to remember and a year to forget

Hello my crafty friends, you've not heard much from me in 2015, I'm very sorry about that.

I didn't lose my mojo or anything, I lost my Mum and it threw me for six. :(

But when one door closes another door opens and I was blessed with a beautiful granddaughter in June, called Autumn Rose. She's wonderful and she makes me smile lots. :)

So here's a round up of my crafty year, with many things that didn't make it on the blog.

Lots of painted driftwood

 

Painted wooden plaques

Driftwood Seahorses

I belong to the sea Canvas Class at Art from the Heart

Crackle ATC's playing with DecoArt Crackle Glaze

July Tag class at Poppy Rose in Stockton-on-Tees

25th July Seahorse Canvas at Art from the Heart

23rd July day out to York with Crafty friends :)
Mell, Kate and Gemma x

Gelli Plate beach huts, just playing in my craft room :)

19th September Cherry Blossom Canvas at Art from the Heart

4th October Cambridge, Mixed Media Fest, at It's Crafting Time

7th & 8th November Coventry.
DecoArt & Tando Creative classes The Beach Hut box
I'll do a separate blog post about this class :)

15th November Seth Apter class
I will do an update on this project when I finish it :) x

There are other things which I'd like to write a blog post for, but I'll put them on soon. xx

I hope you all have a fantastic 2016!

I'm starting the New Year as I mean to go on....with painty fingers!

Michelle xxxxx

Mixed Media Fest at It's Crafting Time Oct 2015

I'll be teaching at Nina's

Mixed-Media Fest in Cambridge on Sunday the 4th of October 2015

 along with Andy Skinner and Kate Crane.

(PS if you are having any difficulty in booking online, then please let me know in a comment, and I'll make sure your place is reserved and contact Nina when she gets back from Australia).

This is the canvas I'll be teaching.

But you can also make it as a journal page too if you'd like.

We'll be learning all about the techniques in adding mixed-media, layers and texture, as well as using paints, mediums and inks to make interesting, dynamic backgrounds. Techniques that you'll be able to use again and again in the future for making your own mixed-media projects.

A LITTLE EXTRA
Plus we'll be making something extra as well to put your new found mixed-media knowledge into practice. :)

The little EXTRA will be something like this little mixed-media canvas board.

Love using canvas boards because they give you quick awesome results, plus they make me so happy when I see them hanging in a little bare patch of wall. :)

Hope to see you there :)
Michelle xx

Introduction to mixed media - Arty tags class

I'm doing an Arty Tags class at a lovely shop called Poppy Rose on Stockton High Street on the 18th of July 2015. They sell beautiful vintage and handmade crafts and have a little workshop in the back.

They welcome any crafter with open arms, even if you just want to chat and have a cuppa. They have lots of workshops on including ceramics, rag rug making, knitting and sewing. If you're on the high street have a pop in  :)

Michelle xxx

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A year went past in a blur! Where did 2014 go?

Last year was a bit of a blur, everything went so fast. I'd gone back to working in geology, working very long hours, so I didn't get much time in the craft room. :( But I did get very muddy though!

My Mum started 2014 off in January in hospital in critical care for 3 weeks followed by a whole year of endless hospital stays and appointments, which is still ongoing.  I still had lots of classes to prep for in 2014 though, so when I wasn't working, sleeping or at the hospital, I was frantically beavering away in the craft room.

Well it all got too much by September as I was working away in Cambridge too and I had to stop teaching for a while. I miss it very much.

Here's some pictures that never made it on the blog from last years classes I taught. 

 February 2014 Mixed-media canvas AFTH -  Believe in your dreams, follow your heart and create.

  

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March 2014 Preview class AFTH - I'd rather be crafting desk sign.

I love neon paint on Kraft card.

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March 2014 Wynyard Canvas Class - Birdhouse and Bunting

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April 2014 AFTH - Give your heart the wings to fly

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July 2014 Wynyard Canvas Class - The Beach Huts Day 1

Hinged Canvases Day 2 at Wynyard

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August 2014 AFTH - Altered Book Class

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August 2014 AFTH - Colour Theory Class.  

This was my last class at AFTH. :(   But not forever though!

 This is Karen, she's super talented and she's now teaching at Art from the Heart too. Go on girl!

                    Steven Macari was over from Paris to see family and managed to fit a class in too. :)

Those colour charts will come in handy. 

These were the amazing flowers that Ben gave me for my last class. They were absolutely stunning and they lasted for weeks! :) Thank you x

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This was my last class of 2014 in Cambridge at It's Crafting Time shop in Shepreth.

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I did a large acrylic painting in September for a local Mexican restaurant called Mahujo's.

It's a Mexican tree of life. I'd like to do a Los Muertos skull for the next one.

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Mum went to the Butterwick Hospice in the summer and I went with her a few times. They had a watercolour painting class on so I had a bit of a dabble too. 

This was my first one, I liked it, but didn't like the clouds. :)

Then I tried this one from a watercolour book. 

I like this too, but I wrinkled the paper a bit.

So then I had a go at painting a photo I had taken of some bales of hay at the foot of Roseberry Topping. I enjoyed my little flurry with watercolours. I could easily retire with all my hobbies, but it won't pay the mortgage, so I had to put my paint brush down for a while.

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Me and Helen went for a couple of days to Llandudno in July, a well earned break and a walk up the Orme. Worthy of a quick scrapbook page I thought!

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Well that's kind of it for 2014. Sorry the blog posts were a bit thin on the ground.

I've dragged my sewing machine out of the cupboard lately, so I'll do another update this week. 

I think its high time the blog got a revamp anyway, don'tcha think? :)

Have fun in your crafty room, whatever you're doing

Michelle xxx

Latest Classes, Sneaky Peeks and new Paints

Went to visit my Grandmother in Burnley yesterday which means I have to drive through Harrogate to get to Skipton. Which means I had to drive past Art from the Heart! Sacrilegious I hear you cry! So I popped in on the way home instead, Ha Ha! It would've been rude not to really. :) I had to go stroke some of the new Dina Paints anyway! Of course they just jumped into my basket, those lively little buggers. I bought 5 to play with.

I'll be back into Art from the Heart on Thursday next week on the 15th of May as I'm teaching my She Art canvases class (pics below). Lots of gorgeous layers in the background I love it. I'll be providing templates of 6 girls all hand drawn by me with interchangeable heads!

I've discovered a new product that I love too, I don't know why I've only come across them now, but I LOVE them! It's the Faber Castell Big Brush Pitt Pens. Now I thought these were just big felt tip pens last year and I didn't really give them a chance. But after playing with them this week, they are much more than that, and a mixed-media artist's best friend. You can move the ink around with your finger and get amazing results. So we're going to be using these too to have a play with them on Thursday, so if you want to come and join in there are a few places left HERE

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It's sneaky peaky time. 

Below is a sneaky peak of a canvas I'm teaching at Barnsley on the 31st of May at The Craft Box, playing with all the latest PaperArtsy paints and JOFY stamps. Looking forward to finally meeting Lynn who runs the shop too :)

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Here's another very close sneaky peak of the canvas I'm teaching on the first day of my Mixed-Media weekend at Wynyard Teesside on the 26th and 27th of July. This one makes me very happy. It's a place I always like to be at! Any guesses where it is?

You can book your place on the Art Workshops page on Facebook (just send them a message), or email Sue Tucker on  sue.tucker1@btopenworld.com to secure your spot.

I'll have another sneaky peak for the Sunday's project when I've finished it :) xx

I have lots to be getting on with these next few weeks as its Preview Day at Art from the Heart on the 14th of June and I need to get the new class projects finished (time is running out and I'm back at work on Monday! eeek!) then prep the preview day taster class too. It's a corker!

Oh and fill a restaurant full of paintings too.

I like to be busy! Or crazy maybe 

Have a great week

Michelle xxxxxx